This is part of the Semicolon&Sons Code Diary - consisting of lessons learned on the job. You're in the bash category.
Last Updated: 2024-04-18
What's the difference between trap ERR:
trap 'cleanup' ERR
mkdir workingdir
# do stuff inside workingdir
# ...
cleanup() {
rm -rf workingdir
}
and trap EXIT
trap 'cleanup' EXIT
# ... as before
Answer: EXIT is called, no matter what, when the script is finished, whereas ERR is only called if there are an error. Therefore EXIT is useful for general cleanup.